The cabal reviews the problem of the abyssally marked children and the terrible options available to them. The easiest solution would be to kill them or let the Iron Hand kill them. A possible solution would be steal someone’s soul to replace a child’s, dooming the donor instead. They now also have a ceremony that might work but it requires the destruction of part of the Supernal. They also have looked into karmic spirits but those require the death of three people so one might live. For their part, the cabal knows that Black Dog and his allies are not bothered by the idea of killing the entire cult and the children to solve the problem.
Seeking answers, Mammon dreams, focusing on what option will be the best in the long run. He dreams of a forge. There he sees a smith, in the form of a skeletal grim reaper, and his apprentice, who resembles Adele. They are melting down various metals to forge an bronze alloy. As he watches, they draw out the metal, creating some sort of wall sconce. As they complete their task, the smith gives Mammon a sword to take to the lord’s keep. Mammon hurries out of the smithy and toward the dark and ominous main keep. In the main hall, he finds a throne forged of swords and feels a menacing presence nearby. Looking around he sees broken glass and a summoning diagram marked on the floor. The symbols used are very elaborate, far more than would be needed for any normal demon. Suddenly he releases that the floor is no longer stone but asphalt and that he is no longer in the keep but in Chicago somehow. As he contemplates that the summoning must be for Algol, he feels that terrible presence again. As he turns to look a knife appears at his throat and he wakes up. The sting and blood of a cut marks his neck.
Based decide on his dream, they decide to seek an artifact. Adele still unconvinced and goes to pray for guidance. They decide not to seek an artifact from the alternate Chicago but rather find an unclaimed artifact. They decide to research local artifacts but quickly run into rumors of the Celestial Flange. Colt, getting worried about the dangers of uncovering a powerful artifact, decides to investigate Supernal summonings instead. He calls Athaliah to discuss the idea. She agrees it is possible and that Supernal creatures have been known to bring artifacts from the Supernal with them.
Meanwhile Adele decides to seek Father Joseph’s guidance. They talk in the confessional and Adele tells him about her morally questionable plans and her reasons behind them. While the Sleeper priest can’t understand all of it, he tries to console her about the difficult choices before her. Since the the children are innocent but damned through no fault of their own, he advises helping them despite the toll on her own soul. Just then, Colt calls Adele, informing her that he is going to summon an angel and with its help get the material needed to save the children.
Colt decides to do his summoning in the park that evening. He sets a stone cross by an isolated stream and builds a fire. Using a stone knife he sacrifices a lamb and calls to the Supernal. A mighty dragon rises from the flames. It is a towering serpentine creature standing on four long legs and has three arms ending in clawed hands. Huge feathered wings, the color of night, spread out from its back. Its head is strangely shaped with a high forehead and curved horns. Its eyes blaze with pure magic as do the runes that cover its upper body.
Colt talks to it, amusing the being with his humble nature. It is rather condescending to him, seeing the mage as a lesser being until finally Colt convinces it that his long term goals are of worth. It gives him an artifact, a metallic ring from one of its horns and then leaves flying back into the flames.
Valkyrie and Colt analyze the artifact, determining that it has a Prime enchantment to gift one with mage sight and has a life enchantment which induces mutation. The latter effect is incomplete and harmless without a secondary spell which would speed evolution within an organism.
Mammon contacts Red Thunder to coordinate the attack. The plan is to strike after midnight with the Ebon Cross using a portal to access the main building while the Iron Hand crashes through their perimeter, drawing the cultists out into their line of fire. The Ebon Cross will grab the children and mothers after which they are the cabal’s problem. The compound consists of three buildings with the children being kept in the main worship center, guarded by the mothers, a Sleeper cultist, and Vayu.
The time arrives, The mages lay their spells and scry ahead. Mammon opens a portal to the Disciples’ sanctum and they sneak into the children’s bedroom from their closet. Unfortunately Mammon trips over a toy which begins to wake the children. Adele and Valkyrie grab the little boy and girl and drag them out. Mammon and Colt head deeper in, in search of the last child, who they know is currently possessed. Colt slips into the kitchen where the child is wandering. He quickly subdues the young boy with a punch to the head. He and Mammon grab the toddler and hurry back to the bedroom as the sounds of the attack begin. Rushing into the closet portal, they yank the kid through, leaving behind the furious spirit of Nehjarra.
Just then the Sleepers in the building enter into the room. They charge to the portal where the mother passes through and the other Sleeper bounces off the impenetrable wall. Colt quickly subdues the mother with a solid punch to the chest. Then the Millers arrive at the portal. Vayu, now possessed by Nehjarra, attempts to hold back Apas from plunging forward after her child. Colt shoots at him while Mammon attempts to pull the woman free of Vayu’s grasp. Finally Apas breaks free and she and Mammon run through the portal. Mammon quickly closes the portal behind them.
Apas lashes out at Mammon with celestial fire but the paradox from the children’s ruined souls causes the attack to go wide and strike her child Adonis. Colt quickly heals the child while Mammon and the others calm the derange mage down. Weeping she cradles her child and heals him, absorbing the paradox into herself.
They guide the children into the Demense, learning along the way that the Sleeper had miscarried due to Colt’s attack. Adele begins the ceremony severing their souls from their body. Then she shatters the artifact and imbue the souls with the loosed Supernal energy. She places the souls back into the children healing them.
The children are safe as are most of the mothers. But the next day, the cabal learns that no one else made it out alive...